The Sons of Liberty

In One April in Boston, you met Ben's Uncle Alex, a cabinetmaker and member of the Sons of Liberty. This page contains more information about that organization and his involvement. It will take you from early 1765 to the time of Ben's story, which begins on Thursday, April 13, 1775.

The Sons of Liberty were formed in 1765 to protest the Stamp Act which was designed to tax paper items including newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents. The tax had the citizens of Boston in an uproar. The Sons of Liberty met secretly in local taverns and soon found a perfect location for public protest, a large elm tree that stood on Orange Street near Boston Common. On the morning of August 14, 1765, a dummy of stamp commissioner Andrew Oliver could be seen dangling from a noose on the tree's branches. Oliver later resigned from his duties as stamp master beneath the boughs of this same tree. The Sons of Liberty had begun calling it the Liberty Tree.

In October, 1765 delegates from nine colonies formed the Stamp Act Congress. They petitioned the king and Parliament, making note of their rights and complaints. On March 18, 1766, King George signed the repeal of the Stamp Act. It had become impossible to enforce due in large part to the efforts of the Sons of Liberty. Word of the repeal reached Boston in mid-May and the town soon witnessed the greatest celebration in its history. Banners flew, church bells rang, guns were fired, drums beat and Boston rejoiced in song. Debtors were released from jail after the money they owed was paid by wealthy celebrants. In the evening, there were many illuminations. Liberty Tree was a glorious sight, decorated with 150 lanterns. On the Common was a large, well-lit monument. It contained images of those who supported the colonies. Fireworks began as darkness fell, and the last rocket was fired at 11 p.m.

The victory for the Colonists was short lived, however, and the work of the Sons of Liberty was far from over. On the same day the Stamp Act was repealed in England, the Declaratory Act was passed. It stated that the British Parliament had the absolute right to make laws for the American colonies in all cases whatsoever. On June 29, 1767, Parliament took action and passed the Townshend Acts. These Acts taxed English manufactured goods including paint, glass, and tea. The Colonists were furious. In August of 1767, a flag pole had been erected at Liberty Tree, passing through and above its highest branches. When a special flag flew here, the Sons of Liberty gathered. Protesting the Townshend Acts, they harassed customs officers, kept them from their duties, broke their windows, and hung dummies of them from Liberty Tree.

In February of 1768, Sons of Liberty leader Samuel Adams wrote a Circular Letter opposing taxation without representation. It was sent throughout the colonies and called for the colonists to unite against England. In August, in Boston and New York, merchants agreed to boycott British goods until the Townshend Acts were repealed. They started the Non-Importation Movement. England began to feel the impact of the boycott and placed the blame on the instigators. Parliament sent a brigade of troops to Boston to restore order and arrest the ring leaders. The troops arrived on September 30, 1768 and marched into town on October 1. The occupation of Boston had begun.

In March of 1769, merchants in Philadelphia joined the boycott of British goods. The Sons of Liberty continued their meetings and kept a watchful eye on the British Regulars. Because the members of the Sons of Liberty were sworn to secrecy, few specifics are known about the group's meetings. Several lists of its members survive. One list contains sixty-two of its leaders and offers a description of each of them. This list was created by a Tory for publication in an English newspaper. It is known as the "London Enemies" list. A second list is entitled "An Alphabetical List of the Sons of Liberty who din'd at Liberty Tree Dorchester, Aug 14th 1769." Alexander Edwards' name appears on this list created by John Hancock's clerk William Palfrey, who was present that day. There is a detailed description of this gathering in the August 21, 1769 issue of the Boston Gazette and in the diary of John Adams.

The Sons of Liberty Banquet - Robinson's Tavern, Dorchester

On Monday, August 14, 1769, the 4th anniversary of the first public protest of the Stamp Act, 355 members of the Sons of Liberty gathered at Liberty Tree in Boston. They had named the area surrounding the tree Liberty Hall. Here they drank fourteen toasts and then traveled to Robinson's Tavern in Dorchester (also known as the Sign of Liberty Tree) to dine. Robinson's Tavern was nearly 100 years old and was owned by Sons of Liberty member Lemuel Robinson.

The members sat outside. John Adams wrote "we had two tables laid in the open field by the barn, with between 300 and 400 plates, and an arning (awning) of sailcloth overhead." Three pigs were barbecued. The men also ate boiled codfish with egg sauce, chickens, blueberry pie, and drank Madeira wine that was likely supplied by John Hancock. There were forty-five toasts, and John Adams noted "To the honour of the Sons, I did not see one person intoxicated, or near it."

The Sons of Liberty were entertained in good humor by fellow member Nathaniel Balch. They also sang the Farmer's Liberty Song with everyone joining in the chorus. Among them, besides John Adams, was his cousin Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren. Benjamin Edes and John Gill, printers of the Boston Gazette, enjoyed the festivities, as did John Pulling, Captain Daniel Malcom, and Nathaniel Barber. As the singing concluded, Alexander Edwards took his seat next to his brother in law John Savage. They spoke about the festivities that had occurred just two weeks earlier, accompanying the departure of the despised Royal Governor Francis Bernard. On that day, July 31, 1769, bells rang, and militia cannons fired as Alexander Edwards and over 100 other inhabitants of the town formalized their commitment to boycott British goods and signed the Boston Citizen's Non-Importation Agreement.

By the afternoon, rain had begun to fall at Robinson's Tavern in Dorchester, but it did not dampen the spirits of those in attendance. The banquet drew to a close between 4 and 5 o'clock and John Hancock entered his carriage to lead the men back to Boston. Alexander and the others rode off in the procession which extended for nearly a mile and a half. Another carriage followed at the rear of the group. John Adams soon left what he called "a large collection of good company" and galloped off toward Taunton, Massachusetts. The procession returned to Boston before dark.

In October of 1769, the boycott of British goods spread to New Jersey, Rhode Island, and North Carolina. Through the fall and winter, tensions grew between the British Regulars and the townspeople of Boston. On the evening of March 5, 1770, those tensions had deadly consequences. A crowd of Bostonians threw snowballs and rocks at a group of British soldiers. The townspeople grew angrier, waved wooden clubs, and taunted the soldiers who stood in front of the Town House (Old State House). The soldiers kept the mob at a distance with bayonettes. Soon a club was thrown, it hit one of the soldiers, and he fired his musket. Three or four shots rang out, one after the other, and three more soon followed. The musket fire hit eleven men; three died instantly, one a few hours later, and a fifth within a matter of days. Six others who were wounded survived. The victims were buried in a common grave at Old Granary Burying Ground. The citizens of Boston were enraged and their hatred for the British soldiers grew.

In April of 1770, most of the Townshend Acts were repealed. All taxes on imported goods were removed, except for a tax on tea. On May 10, 1773, the Tea Act maintained a three penny per pound tax on imported tea. It also gave a monopoly to the British East India Company, which was nearing bankruptcy. It allowed them to sell tea direct to agents in the colonies and bypass any middlemen. They would be able to sell tea cheaper than American merchants. In September, Parliament approved the shipment of half a million pounds of tea.

The Colonists opposed the monopoly. The Sons of Liberty harassed the tea agents in an effort to make them resign. On November 28, 1773, the Dartmouth, the first of three British ships loaded with tea, arrived in Boston Harbor. On November 29 and 30, two large town meetings were held to discuss what action should be taken. Bostonians decided to send the tea on the Dartmouth back to England and pay no taxes on it. The Eleanor and the Beaver soon joined the Dartmouth in Boston Harbor. Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson insisted that the tea would be unloaded and the tax paid.

A Powerful Protest - The Boston Tea Party

On Thursday morning, December 16, 1773, a large crowd of several thousand people gathered at Boston's Old South Meeting House. The Sons of Liberty were in attendance. They sent one of the Dartmouth's owners, Francis Rotch, to meet with Governor Hutchinson at his country home in Milton, seven miles away. He would ask the Royal Governor one final time for permission to take his ship and its cargo of tea back to England. The meeting adjourned until 3 p.m. to give Rotch sufficient time to meet with Hutchinson. When the meeting continued, speeches were made for two hours as the crowd awaited Rotch's return. The crowd grew restless and the meeting was extended. Darkness neared when Francis Rotch finally arrived. He told them that Hutchinson had denied his request to take the Dartmouth back to England. The time had come for the Sons of Liberty to act!

Samuel Adams stood up and said "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." It was the pre-arranged signal. A war cry went up from outside and several Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians, their faces blackened, entered and stirred the crowd. Over 100 patriots, dressed in similar fashion, marched to Griffin's Wharf, boarded the three British ships, and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. A large crowd looked on. The participants were surprised that they were not confronted by British soldiers. Their task was completed by 9 p.m. and they marched off in an orderly fashion. A loyalist voice was heard to say that they "would have to pay the fiddler yet!" Only time would tell how Britain would react to their powerful protest.

In March of 1774, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. Colonists called them the Intolerable Acts. The first of these Acts, the Boston Port Bill closed Boston Harbor to commercial shipping. Military ships and transports were the only vessels Bostonians would see. General Thomas Gage soon replaced Thomas Hutchinson as Royal Governor. He was also the commander of all British military forces in the colonies. Soon, four more regiments of soldiers arrived in Boston. Massachusetts was now under military rule. In June, the Quartering Act required that the colonists provide housing for British troops in both occupied and unoccupied buildings.

The Sons of Liberty continued to meet and two of their leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock attended the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The fifty-six delegates in attendance, from all of the colonies (except Georgia), said that the Intolerable Acts should not be obeyed. They discussed the right of the colonists to liberty and self-rule. They promoted the formation of local militias. In February of 1775, a Provincial Congress was held in Massachusetts. Those attending reacted to the war-like environment by voting to take proper measures for defense. Parliament soon declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. In April, King George told the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, to suppress this rebellion by force if necessary.

This is where the story One April in Boston begins.

The following were sources of reference for the above text:

Boston Gazette and Country Journal, August 21, 1769.
Bowen, Catherine Drinker. John Adams and the American Revolution. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1950.
Butterfield, L. H. Diary and Autobiography of John Adams. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1961.
Dorchester Historical Society. Dorchester Old and New (1630-1930) in the Old Bay Colony. Dorchester, Mass., Chapple Publishing Company, 1930.
Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty! The American Revolution. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., Viking Penguin, 1997.
Forbes, Esther. Paul Revere and the World He Lived In. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1942, 1969.
Langguth, A.J. Patriots, The Men Who Started the American Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1988.
Orcutt, William Dana. Narrative History of Good Old Dorchester. Norwood, Mass., The Plimpton Press, 1893, 1916.